Thursday Table Talk: Kellie's 5th article in her series of taking your support group to the next level discussing dues and supporting members.
Financial Friday: Breedlove and Associates will be writing for us on a regular basis. They approached us at INA and offered to do this. Their first article is information that every new nanny needs to know and every seasoned nanny should already know. What is an independent contractor?
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As we approach our 1 year anniversary, we would love to hear from you!
What were your favorite articles this year, and what you would like to see more of next year.
Next week on Regarding Nannies we will have a list of books for kids and adults that you might want to add to your summer reading list.
Car Games for kids, and tell you about Natures Simple Blends owned by the mother of 4 who just launched her own organic baby food company.
Independent Contractor Law
Compliments of Breedlove & Associates, written specially for Regarding Nannies
This time of year, we frequently receive questions from both families and nannies about payroll and tax reporting requirements for a summer position. Many families assume that because the position is temporary, they can classify the nanny as an independent contractor and issue her a Form 1099. This assumption is incorrect and can land the family in a lot of trouble. Here’s why:
The first step in the tax process is to make sure the proper amount of taxes are being withheld from your paycheck each pay period. The IRS has a worksheet called Form W-4, which is used to determine the proper number of allowances for your personal tax situation. Allowances determine the amount of income taxes withheld — with the goal being to not owe any money at the end of the year (or perhaps even get a little money back). Because there are so many factors that affect personal income tax liability, it is impossible to manage with precision. In fact, you should allow for error of up to $500 — meaning you may get a refund of a few hundred dollars or you may be required to make a tax payment of a few hundred dollars. If you don’t like the idea of writing a check at the end of the year, then you should be conservative when you choose your allowances — a lower number of allowances will withhold more income taxes from each paycheck and, therefore, reduce your year-end liability. Conversely, a higher number of allowances will withhold less income taxes each paycheck and, therefore, increase your year-end tax liability. Once you have a tax history, it is easier to get closer to $0 by adjusting the number of allowances on Form W-4 to withhold a little less or a little more each pay period. A copy of Form W-4 can be downloaded at www.breedlove-online.com or www.irs.gov. If you have any questions, just give us a call.
What to expect at the end of the year
Once your payroll is set up properly, you won’t have to worry about anything until the end of each calendar year. Your employer will be remitting your withheld taxes to the state and federal tax agencies each calendar quarter. In January, when the tax year is complete, your employer will provide you with Form W-2s. It itemizes your gross wages for the tax year along with all your federal and state tax withholdings. You should receive your W-2s from your employer by the end of January, giving you plenty of time to prepare your income tax filings before the April 15 deadline.
Note: if you terminate your relationship with your employer during the tax year, it is your job to make sure that your former employer has your current mailing address so they can send your Form W-2s to you in January.
What to expect down the road
By the end of February each year, your employer will also have filed paperwork with the Social Security Administration on your behalf. About half of your taxes — along with a dollar-for-dollar match from your employer — will be going directly into your retirement account. Throughout your career, this account will accumulate and earn interest. The more money that goes in the more money you’ll receive during your retirement years.
In addition to Social Security and Medicare benefits, those who are paid legally have access to other important benefits, such as Unemployment, Earned Income Credit and, in most states, Disability and Workers’ Comp protection.
So, don’t think of it as a tax burden. Think of it as an investment in your financial security.
If you have any questions about the unique tax and labor laws for household employers, call Breedlove & Associates at 888-273-3356 or visit www.breedlove-online.com.
The Twin Cities Professional Nannies (TCPN) is a nanny support group serving the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area.Part of TCPN’s mission is to provide ongoing professional development for local nannies, families and community members.For the past eight years TCPN has put on an annual conference day in conjunction with the organization’s annual meeting.With this year’s theme – Come Play with Us – participants enjoyed the playful side of our careers.
Carrie Stolar presented Getting Kids Healthy and Back Outdoors.Carrie shared the most recent facts on children’s health and gave us ideas of fun things to do with kids outdoors! Ms. Stolar serves as Senior Brand Manager of the Säjai® Foundation. She graduated from VanderbiltUniversity, and earned her MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at NorthwesternUniversity. Carrie’s responsibilities at the Säjai Foundation include product development and brand management.She introduced us to a child friendly program that is being launched with children from six to twelve, and also gave us great hands-on practical ideas to get children – and ourselves – outdoors and active.We all took home a handout full of new and rejuvenating ideas to use immediately.
Paulette Pelletier presented Fun & Healthy Snacks. Paulette shared ideas and recipes to liven up snack time.We all shared our experiences with snack time challenges and the incorporation of all ages at snack. Paulette came to us with 20 years experience and has an Early Childhood background.She presents workshops for those working in the child care field and has been a Toddler Head Teacher and Child Care Center Director. Paulette currently is the Conference Coordinator and Field Representative for Providers Choice-sponsor of the Child and Adult Food Program.Not only did we have a chance to share our experiences of success or challenge with snacks and mealtime, but we also had the opportunity to explore other options that the children in our care could benefit from right away.
Paulette graciously agreed to fill our third speaker slot since she had become ill.Her vast experience working with child care providers made it easy for her to shift gears and bring us Homemade Games.This presentation fit into our theme like a glove.Paulette demonstrated easy to create games, crafts and activities for all ages.She generously shared her supplies and ideas allowing conference attendees to actively participate in a make-n-take session.Although a last minute addition to the conference schedule, Paulette’s Homemade Game session turned out to be a participant favorite.
TCPN Founder and current President, Mallette Parry had these sentiments to share:
On October 10th of 2009 TCPN had it 8th annual conference. I am happy to say I did a much better job leading this year than the very first one we had 2000. I know and I can speak for many when I say that we had a wonderful time this year. We used the theme "Come Play with Us". The speakers were centered on this theme. There were three speakers planned for the day. The first talked to us about the importance of outdoor play, the next one talked about Healthy Snacks and Homemade Games. Our second speaker stayed because our 3rd speaker became ill the morning of the conference. From what I heard she was a favorite to many. We had just over 20 nannies attend the conference. As a current board member I was very happy. We had several new nannies attend the conference for the first time. I look forward to seeing them at future events and the conference next year.
One of my favorite parts of the conference was the centerpieces. Shellie, our conference chair brought in children’s toys which included: a child's tea set and battleship. And I brought in a bead toy.
We had a wonderful conference committee. The board and the committee worked very hard to make it a huge success again this year. The day was very rewarding and I came away with the reminder of the value of being outside, great snack ideas and some wonderful homemade games. I also want to extend my thanks to all who donated for door prizes this year. A special thanks to Regarding Nannies for their donations. Over all, I have to say we were very pleased with the whole day.
Other attendees made these comments:
"I loved coming away with so many ideas" "All of it was great!" "A really good conference, they keep getting better."
TCPN is fortunate to have a group of nannies who care enough to volunteer their time and talents to bring an annual conference of this caliber to local nannies.Hours of work and planning went into it and another great conference was the reward.
Regarding Nannies is the creation of three professional nannies with the goal of bringing together a variety of professional nanny related blogs that will project a professional image of the nanny industry and serve as an information source for all nanny/child related topics.
The goal of Regarding Nannies is to bring together a variety of professional nanny related blogs and resources that will assist in projecting a professional image of the nanny industry. As well as serving as an information source for all nanny/child related topics and resources to nannies regardless of where they are on the career ladder.
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